Afterlife
by HeavensMarch
Summary: Max Caulfield and her family moved back to Arcadia Bay after fifteen years. However, instead of living in an ordinary house, her parents bought an old worn out yet big house. While exploring the place, Max finds herself in the attic where she experiences something unusual. She meets a ghost. A ghost that needs her help to move on to the afterlife by finding out who killed them.
1. Chapter 1

**Afterlife**

 **Chapter 1**

 **"Home sweet home"**

Seattle was a big city, full of people and busy everywhere. Time flew by so quickly in Max's life as she grew up. After moving there from Arcadia Bay, today her family are moving back; not that Max had any objections, it was the fact that she was going somewhere unknown. Even though Max was born in that small town, a two year old can't remember that much.

 _Arcadia Bay 1 Km_

Max sighed softly, her head resting against the window of the car while fiddling with her retro camera, an instant camera. A lot of green scenery was flashing by the window and she already begged her parents to stop the car for a moment and let her take a photo but they said that it can wait after they have arrived. She held her camera up and took a photo of the blurred scenery. It wasn't a glorious picture but it holds the memories of her arriving to Arcadia Bay. After hearing the sound of her camera sending out her film, she took the photo and flicked it back and forth with her hand and watch as the black picture turn into the green blur of the moving trees outside. Smiling, Max got her journal out and stuck her picture in. She grabbed her pen and started writing.

'Wowsers. I still can't believe I'm moving to a new home, a new city. Well, more like a town. When I first heard that we we're moving, I thought it was a joke until I saw my parents starting to pack up. Honestly, I was pretty upset since it I would be leaving some friends behind. Now that I think about it, we're they even friends in the first place? I mean, we didn't really hung out much except see each other in school. Guess there was no one really to miss, lol. Kinda sad but hey, summer vacation ended a week ago and maybe I can meet new people this new school year… Oh who am I kidding, I'm finally a 12th grader! Last year of high school. And fortunately after that, I can go to Blackwell Academy here. Photography in that academy is like their specialty. Can't wait. Anyways, hope things are pretty chill in this small town... I doubt it though.'

Max finished her last sentence and the car came to a stop. Looking out her window, she was met with a huge house. A faded blue run down house.

"Uh... Mom, Dad, what's this?" Max said as she got out. Her mouth was gaping a bit. She thought they were gonna live somewhere…in a bit more modernish house. Not a creepy looking haunted house.

Her Mom, Vanessa Caulfield, walked beside her and patted Max's shoulder.

"Don't worry honey. Your dad and I are gonna have some help fixing this house. Just because it looks like this on the outside does not mean it's crap inside."

A few seconds later Max's dad, Ryan Caulfield, came up and ruffled her short brown hair.

"True true. Why don't you check the inside? You may get some awesome pictures of ghosts." He said chuckling.

Max stared at the two of them quietly. The fact that they could've bought a normal looking house instead of moving to this old house gave Max a slight headache. Sometimes she doesn't get her parents at all.

Sighing heavily, she pinched the bridge of her nose, "Okay… I understand the situation but really? Ghosts dad? You've been watching too many ghost shows lately."

Her dad pouted at her but was dragged back inside the car by her mom leaving Max confused.

Her mom looked at her apologetically, "Sorry hun. We're gonna meet up with some old friends to help out with the furniture so we can sleep soundly tonight."

Max choked on her saliva, "W-wait we're sleeping here tonight?!"

Her mom turned on the engine while her dad tossed her the key to the house, both smiling at Max then sped off leaving her in the dust. Coughing and rubbing the dirt out of her eyes, Max groaned.

"This is so not happening."

The door creaked open while Max peeked inside.

"Hello, hello creepy house. Don't mind the me trespassing cause I'll be living here starting today." She chuckled quietly, "and Max Caulfield does not get freaked out by 'Ghosts'."

Max took a good look of the inside. Honestly it wasn't as bad as she thought it was. Just dusty everywhere and dim from the slightly closed windows and the lack of electricity leaving all the Suns light to shine through the house.

Max took a step forward with a creak from the floor and headed deeper into the house. She noticed that some rooms were furnished with white sheets draped over them, and the rest were empty. Some photos still hung around the house which somewhat creeped her out yet she walked towards them out of curiosity.

 _Are they dead? The house doesn't seem that old though_ , Max thought.

The photo included a family of three. A woman, a man and a teenage daughter. Max moved on to the rest of the photos and there was a portrait of the daughter all by herself. Taking a step closer, she gets a much more detailed structure of the girls face. She had these gorgeous blue eyes that reminded Max of the deep depths of the ocean that she took a photo of once. She had strawberry blonde hair that flows naturally around her neck and shoulders. Max was mesmerized by her face. She was practically the most gorgeous girl she had ever met and the thought of asking her to be Max's model came to her mind for a split second until remembering that this girl is probably years older than her now.

"But still… I think she would look cute with short hair too."

Her hands dug into her bag to grab her camera, fingers twitching to take a picture of the portrait. She took a step back, bringing the camera to her face, eyes seeing through the sights. Steadying her hands, she took a slow deep breath as her finger settled on top of the button ready to capture the image.

 _Crash. Shatter._

Max yelped and stumbled back onto the wooden floor with a loud thump. Her heart was pounding loudly from the unexpected noise. Her head whipped around to find the source of where it came from. She was sitting in the middle of a hallway, an entrance to her left of where she came from and two doors with one that was slightly open was to her right.

 _Click._

The door that was open had just closed itself.

Silence surrounded the girl. Max held her breath trying to calm her heart telling herself that maybe a small rodent came in and closed it. It could explain the crashing sound that she heard earlier. No matter how many times she tried to convince herself that it was probably nothing, her curiosity won against her flight instincts. _If I'm going to live here, I should know what is in the house that I'll be living in._

Gulping, Max stood up with legs like jello, camera still in her hand. She slowly made her way towards the door with the floor creaking every second steps she makes. Her hand reached for the handle and gulped quietly then chuckled to herself.

"This is so cereal."

With enough confidence, she turned the knob and pushed the door open. Max didn't really know what to expect to see on the other side of the door but she did not think that she would be facing a ladder leading to a closed trap door.

It was the entrance to the attic.

Max stared at it for a few moments. There were no open windows anywhere, throwing the thought of a small animal doing it away. She recalled the moment she heard the noise. _Now that I think about it, it seems like it came from above._ She thought to herself. Getting a little shaky, she thought of the situation she was in. She was inside a old house with remains of the previous family that lived there before; she then hears a noise coming from the attic and coincidentally, the door that leads to it had just closed itself.

She bit her lip. She knew nothing about the house at all and for all she knows, there might be a serial killer hiding in the attic ready to kill her. However at the same time, it could be just nothing.

"C'mon Max… You're just scaring yourself with assumptions. Besides," She said quietly as she hid her camera in her bag and took a step towards the ladder, "Captain Max might find some treasure…"

As she went up, it felt like each step was making it harder for her hands and feet to move. The trap door now in reach, her arm went up to unlock the hatch and slowly pushed up. Dust floated down her face making her cough quietly. She tried blowing them away but it seemed like it was a blanket of dust everywhere. She closed her eyes tightly, not wanting anything to make her eyes water. With closed eyes, she moved up towards the attic floor and closed the hatch. Standing up, she opened her eyes and was met with a room. An actual bedroom. Everything was still dusty but Max could make out the bed, the dressers and some boxes laying around. She then noticed the only big window that's facing the side of the house which is slightly open with a picture frame broken on the floor in front of it. Grinning in triumph and relief, Max rested a hand on her hip.

"Guess it was just a rodent or something after all."

Suddenly, Max saw a blue blur move on the corner of her eye. Turning her whole body, she saw an unusual blue butterfly fluttering on a desk gently.

"Wowsers… I've never seen a blue butterfly before."

Not wanting to miss the opportunity, Max quickly grabbed her camera and slowly walked towards it not wanting to scare it away. As she got closer, she notices the detailed colour of the butterfly. It reminded her of the eyes that the daughter had from the picture which made Max more mesmerized by its entire existence. It stayed there with its wings fluttering ever so slightly as Max stopped a few feet away, ready to take the picture. She brought the camera to her face and saw the butterfly through the lens. She held her breath as she rested her finger on the button. It was like a déjà vu from when she was about to take a picture of the daughter, but this time, she heard the familiar sound of the click that her camera makes whenever she takes a picture.

The flash spread throughout the whole room, engulfing it with white light which disappeared quickly. Max looked down to her processing camera and took the photo out as soon as it was done. As she flicked the photo in the air, she looked back to the butterfly expecting it to fly away but was met with something else.

Blue eyes met blue. As the photo of the blue butterfly became clearer, Max stared at a figure that the butterfly was just on. There, sitting on the desk was a girl around her age, leaning down towards her with a curious face. There was three things that Max immediately noticed. The girl's hair had the same blue colour that the butterfly had which is mostly covered by a black beanie, the girl came out of nowhere, and lastly, she was transparent.

"Huh. This girl suddenly looks high."

Max blinked and backed away slowly pointing at her.

"Y...you just...you just talked…"

Now it was the other girl's turn to look at her in surprise.

"You can see me?"

Max dropped the photo she just took which made her look down at it. In the photo, there was a butterfly. In reality, there's a girl sitting on where the butterfly was. Max's head started to spin quickly, what was happening was completely bizarre. She covered her eyes with one hand and took a deep breath.

"I'm just seeing things, I'm just seeing things, I'm just seeing things… The road trip just made you very exhausted to the point where you see stuff Max, chill. Okay chill, take a chill pill Max…"

She exhaled then took a peek of the desk which was now empty.

Sighing heavily she stumbled back and groaned, "What's wrong with me?"

"Beats me."

Literally yelping and jumping out of her skin, she spun around and there she was again. The blue haired girl was slightly floating in the air with her arms crossed looking at her.

"What the hell, you're not real!" Max complained, a bit panicky.

The girl seemed to get irritated by that remark and settled down on the ground, taking a step forward.

"Uh, excuse me? The fact that I'm talking to you makes this real. Jesus Christ, why the hell are you in my house anyways?"

Max was left dumbfounded. She was one hundred percent sure that this was a ghost. Well, she think she is since the mystery girl is transparent and was literally floating just a few seconds earlier.

"Are you just gonna stand there like an idiot or what?" The girl said impatiently which made Max slightly irritated.

"Well I am so sorry ghost girl but I remember saying earlier that I'm trespassing since I'm going to live here in this house, which now I'm regretting that I said that because I definitely want to move back to Seattle since there's a ghost here!"

The other girl studied her for a few more seconds until she bursted out laughing.

"Oh my god, _ghost girl_! Is that- Is that all you can come up with?" The mysterious girl held her stomach while she was having a laughing fit and floated back up in the air. Max looked at her in bewilderment. _This ghost is… Unusual!_

"Y-you're the one floating around!"

Her laughter stopped and she immediately flew towards Max, leaving a gap few inches from her face. Max, who was startled, backed away in surprise but the girl followed her.

"You see me _and_ hear me too."

Max gulped loudly. Was she about to get possessed? Now that their face are close to each other, Max recognized her.

"Wait… You're that girl from the picture downstairs."

The girl cocked an eyebrow up.

"What about it?"

Max suddenly became mesmerized by the amount of blue she was seeing and smiled faintly without knowing it herself.

"I was right. You do look cute with short hair… The blue dye makes you cuter too."

Surprised by that unexpected compliment, the girl suddenly backed away looking at her as if she was getting flustered.

"What the hell are you talking about? Do you flirt with ghosts that you find? That's just hella weird."

Max snapped out of it and pointed at her accusingly.

"You're the weird one here!"

"Are not!"

"Are so!"

"Not!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"You are!"

"No you are!"

"Yes I am- wait-"

"Haha! You're the weird one now!" The girl retorted back, grinning in victory. Max stared at her in disbelief. She just lost an argument with a ghost. A ghost. A ghost that can probably kill her any second now. With that thought, she suddenly felt very stressed out and heard something dripping down her shirt. Her nose had started bleeding and her vision became hazy. She stumbled forward a bit, trying to gain her balance again but time slowed down around her as she started falling forwards.

"Woah, woah! Are you alright?"

She felt someone catch her, an actual body holding her. Confused on what was happening, Max gripped onto the person holding her, not wanting to let go to avoid falling to the ground.

"Girl, uh, Max or somethin, get up!"

Max groaned in return.

"I don't feel...super," she whimpered and everything became dark right after seeing those same blue eyes from the ghost girl.

 _Ghosts can touch people?_ Was her last thought as she went into a deep slumber.

 **AUTHORS NOTES**

Hello everyone. I hope this fanfic caught your interest! This first chapter is a preview of the whole series and I published this to see your guys's response. I would recommend that you finish or watch the game due to some possible spoilers. To those who had finished the series, there's a lot of tissue here... kinda. I think I used most of them. Anyway I must give you guys a warning. Since this is a sneak peek of the series, it is not finished so you guys may wait for a long while but no worries. All I have to do is write up the rest of the unfinished chapters. Hope to have you guys back in the next chapter. Oreo signing out!


	2. Chapter 2

**Afterlife**

 **Chapter 2**

" **Trust"**

Her eyes fluttered open. The first thing that Max saw was an unfamiliar ceiling. Not able to think for a moment she closed her eyes again while groaning as she felt a slight pain to her head. With that in mind, that means that she was stressed out to the point where she fainted. Memories suddenly rushed to her which made her snap her eyes wide open. Taking a huge deep breath, she sat up slowly and looked around. She was laying on a couch in the living room that she walked by earlier when she was giving herself a tour of the house. Now that Max was wide awake, she noticed something odd about the lighting in the house. She realized that it was brighter than it was earlier because the lights are on.

 _Guess mom and dad got the electricity running._

"Damn, this place is brighter than I remember." Said a voice behind her.

Slightly startled, Max saw the ghost girl again leaning on the wall rubbing her eyes from the light. Max paused. This whole situation was odd. The fact that it was already weird when she first met the girl made it much more weirder when she realized that the ghost was bothered by the light itself... Actually Max doesn't even know what's running through her head anymore and just sighed heavily while looking at her.

"What happened?"

The other girl noticed that she was now awake and floated up in the air in a lying position with her hand behind her head. She tilted her head slightly to face Max.

"You fainted, I caught you, I brought you here on the couch, the electricity is back on and now you're awake." She said casually.

Max rubbed her head. There was a lot to take in.

"Okay… So what's your name? It's not fair that you know mine and I don't know yours."

The ghost girl rose an eyebrow and spun around now floating on her stomach looking at her in amusement. Part of Max was jealous that she can float around but the other part of her was still freaked out and still couldn't believe what she's seeing.

"Not my fault you talked to yourself in third person for a few moments earlier."

Max had a faint blush on her cheek from embarrassment, "S-shut up! I was freaked out okay? You just don't meet a ghost out of nowhere…" She grumbled.

The ghost looked at the side deep in thought seemingly bothered by something then looked back to Max with a serious face.

"If I tell you my name, will you help me?"

Max was a bit taken back then frowned. Memories about ghosts ran through her head. She had read books of ghosts before and that they sometimes ask help from the living to release them from being bounded on earth. Then there was also a fact where a ghost will trick a person into pitying them and then take over their body as soon as they got close with the ghost for a second chance on living. Helping this ghost, or any ghosts seemed sketchy to Max.

Max looked at her cautiously, "You do know that I can ask my parents who previously lived here right?"

The ghost girl pouted making Max think she had the upper hand until she once again grinned and floated towards the window with her arms crossed.

"I have two names hippie, let's see you find out which one is my real name."

Max bit her lip. This gorgeous ghost girl is playing tricks on her and messing with her brain. Okay she is very curious on what her name is but would she risk her soul just for a name? Max stared at her for a good long time until she noticed that another pair of piercing blue eyes was looking back at her with a knowing smile on the owner's face.

"Damn Max, I only caught you once and you're already falling for me."

Feeling hot and uncomfortable Max looked away quickly. She needed to change the subject.

"How long have you been like this?"

The ghost hummed to herself and started counting with her fingers. A few seconds went by as Max watched her fiddle with her long slender fingers. She didn't even realize that her companion already replied until she repeated herself a bit louder to get Max's attention.

"I said, I've been dead for a decade now which means that I've been on earth for 28 years including my human life."

The girl said it as if it was nothing to her but Max suddenly felt queasy. Reality smacked her in the face making her remember where ghosts came from. They were people who once lived and was either murdered or had died from diseases or natural cause. Ghost's who still linger in one place are bonded to stay until they find peace by getting revenge or finishing their objective before dying. Max knows there are more things to know about ghosts but her focus was about the actual ghost in front of her.

Max tensed up on the couch and hesitated to ask the question which the other girl noticed.

"I probably know what you're gonna ask but, " she said in forced amusement, "you should tell me first or I'll make a fool of myself."

A moment of awkward silence went by until Max finally spoke.

"How...did you die?"

A grave look went upon the ghosts face and the lights around them flickered scaring Max deeply. Her heart pounded in her chest fearing of what's going to happen. The air around her suddenly went cold making her shiver and gulp loudly. _Maybe that wasn't the question she was expecting me to ask?_

The ghost looked at her with a menacing look, increasing the heavy thudding of her heart. Max was so sure that her heartbeat could be heard throughout the house. The cold blue empty eyes of the ghost suddenly disappeared and was replaced by regret. Sighing she floated onto another couch and layed down with her hands behind her head.

"I can feel your heart resonating around the room… Sorry about that. My ghost powers or whatever are still unstable."

Max mentally noted about the ghost power part and loosened her muscles a bit while rubbing her right arm with her left hand.

"No, I uh, I shouldn't have asked that…sorry."

The ghost girl fixed her beanie and smiled at Max then hummed to herself while looking at her wrist.

"How about this. I've been looking for my bracelet for a good long time now. So if you're truly sorry, go find it. Call it a mini easter egg hunt yeah?"

Max's face scrunched up. It seems like she needed to do a lot of things for this ghost. She crossed her arms and looked at her challengingly.

"And if I don't?"

The ghost smiled sweetly at Max and shrugged at her while tilting her head to the side.

"This house will probably be filled by your screams every single night."

Max shuddered a bit. She almost forgot that it was a ghost that she's talking to. Something that may kill her any moment. She sighed in defeat not wanting to ruin any chances.

"Okay okay, fine. Why am I doing this," She grumbled, "What does your bracelet look like?"

She heard the other girl chuckling.

"It's black and has silver spikes pointing out throughout the whole thing."

Max pictured the bracelet. It seemed easy enough to find something like that without missing it somewhere. However where should she start looking though?

"So, it's somewhere here at the house right?"

The girl nodded.

"Okay, where did you last saw it or something?"

"In my room."

"Upstairs. In the attic?"

"Yep."

Thinking of where to find it was tiring her out. Max scratched the back of her neck while sighing heavily. She is still feeling exhausted and everything that's going on at the moment wasn't helping. _Where's mom and dad anyways?_ As if realizing something Max quickly stood up.

"Wait a second. How am I supposed to explain your presence here to my parents?"

Before the other girl could reply, the front door opened with her parents rushing in with the loud sounds of their conversation.

"Oh honey, I already planned to meet with my old friends! This is so wonderful."

"Yes I know. You hav've telling me that in the car."

"Sorry, just excited to be back."

"You aren't the only one."

There was a sound of kissing going on and Max groaned. She walked towards Chloe and told her to hide in rushed whisper.

"What are you doing?! Hide! Go!"

The ghost girl rolled her eyes and flew up the ceiling right before her parents came in the living room.

"Oh Maxine, sorry we were out for so long. How is the house? Pretty neat right?" Asked her dad.

Max nodded forcing a small smile.

"Yeah… It really is cool. I looked around and there we're some pretty interesting rooms." _Like the one where I met a ghost._

"Speaking of rooms," Her mom said, "Our furniture and other things will be arriving soon." She then squealed. Max remembered her mom back in Seattle talking animatedly about what she would do here in Arcadia Bay. She had so many plans planned out already making Max and her dad go crazy. Yet that's something that Max loves about her mom.

"Hey mom? Who previously lived her?"

Her dad somehow wandered out the room leaving them both to their conversation. Vanessa brought a finger to her chin.

"It was actually from an old friend of mine, Joyce Price with her husband William."

Max smiled.

 _Bingo._

"I saw their family pictures down the hall. What's the name of their daughter?"

"Curious Max huh? Well her name is Elizabeth. She was such a darling. She used to give us coffee and snacks when she was very young every time we visited here." Her mom's eye was suddenly filled with tears.

"It's… really painful that she's no longer here. Her parents were so heartbroken. She was their only daughter, their sunshine their little princess."

Max suddenly felt horrible. She only wanted to know the ghosts name but this was becoming a heavier topic than she expected.

"Mom, how did she...die?"

Her mom looked up and smiled sadly at Max.

"She went missing Max," She said softly,"They never found her body. One day she was searching for her missing best friend, Rachel, until she too just… disappeared. Until to this day, I still think she found her best friend and that they're living in California just like how they planned when they were little. Her mom however just… gave up."

"Gave up? Why?"

"After a month Elizabeth disappeared, her father William got into a car accident. He didn't make it. Joyce was still recovering from her daughter's disappearance then William too left her. She couldn't bare anything anymore. It was very painful. Then after the funeral, we had to leave for Seattle. We already made plans and we couldn't postpone it any longer. It was her darkest days. I should've been with her yet I left. I still can't forgive myself for leaving her behind."

Looking away Max noticed something blue float by behind her mom and into the wall. Max held her breath. _So she knows my parents… does that mean she knew me when I was little before? Wait that means she won't harm any of us right?_

"Honey! Our furniture is here!"

Vanessa wiped her eyes and walked out after telling Max that she can relax for a while leaving her alone in the living room. Or so she thought.

"She looks old now."

Max jumped as the voice came right behind her. Spinning around, Elizabeth was there smiling at her with amusement.

"Hm. You're very jumpy."

"Shut it!" Gulping down the heavy topic with her mom, Max crossed her arms.

"So Elizabeth? I'll be honest I wasn't expecting you to have… a girlish name."

Elizabeth snickered.

"Well I also didn't expect them to name you Max either. If you had a shorter hair cut, I might've mistaken you for a boy who hasn't reached puberty."

Max turned bright red and went up towards the girl who was fortunately standing on the floor. However, that didn't really make any difference since she was still taller than Max but the latter tried to puff her chest out to show authority.

"It's a shortcut for Maxine! And I'm 17!"

The other girl was obviously entertained by Max's outburst and ruffled her hair. As she made contact with her, Max felt a pleasant chill go down from her head and throughout her whole body. Elizabeth too stopped when she felt something warm go through her. The warmth of being alive.

They both looked at each other suddenly not knowing what to do. Max felt oddly warm even though she felt goosebumps all over her. Her breath hitched to a stop savouring this moment without meaning to and they just stood there. As they looked at each other in the eye, Max noticed that her blue eyes were solid. It wasn't transparent. She looked solid, as if she were alive. Reaching up out of curiosity, she cupped the ghosts cheek. The contact sent more warmth in Elizabeth's whole being.

"I can...touch you."

"Y-yeah…"

"You're surprisingly soft."

"...yeah…"

Max rubbed her thumb against her cheek and that seemed to snap her out of her daydream. Turning red, Max took a step back and coughed awkwardly trying to hide her embarrassment.

"S-sorry. Uhm…"

After her hand left her face, Elizabeth felt cold. Colder than she was before. She didn't get it. She knew she felt something odd when carrying Max earlier but this time the feeling was much more intense. She missed the warmth of the living.

Max looked up and saw a confused crestfallen face of Elizabeth looking at her. _Did I do something weird? Well, no duh Max you practically groped her face!_

"I'm so-"

"Maxine! Help me carry these boxes for a bit!" Her father's voice startles them both and Max turned around to see him slightly struggling with a gigantic box in his arms.

"I'll be there in a sec."

She looked back at the ghost girl but she was gone. Max looked around trying to find her and sighed while looking at the hand that touched her face.

~LiS~

Apparently, her parents couldn't see her even when she drove Max crazy by making faces behind and in front of their faces. Max tried her hardest to maintain her composure but her parents saw a bits of panic flashing on her face. They asked what was wrong and Max had to come up with an excuse. After that, they were almost halfway done with moving their furnitures and belongings when her parents asked her which room she wanted to have. Max was thinking of her choices and completely forgot about the ghost that resides in the house. She stood there thinking about wanting a big wall to hang her photos. The large room of the attic bedroom flashed through her head but crossed that out since she did not want to sleep there at all.

"Well I guess I can take the one at the second fl-" Max paused, "Actually, I'll take the one in the attic."

She blinked.

 _Huh? Wait what?_

Her mom had a confused expression on her face while her dad frowned.

"The attic? Isn't it a bit more dustier up there? Are you sure you want to sleep there?" asked Ryan.

Max nodded enthusiastically, "Hella yes! It looks great and I already cleaned most of it earlier when I came here."

 _W-what's going on!? And since when did I ever say hella before?_

Her mom thought deeply and nodded, "I suppose. Elizabeth's stuff is still up there… Well as long as the bed and it's surroundings is clean then go ahead. You can finish cleaning tomorrow but we have to get rid of her stuff too if you want. Joyce left everything to us in this house.."

Max shook her head,"Nah. It looks cool. Seems like she had a hella awesome taste and I like it."

 _What the fuck? I'm not controlling my body!_

Her parents looked at her seeming to find something odd going on but shrugged it off.

"Well… if you say so."

Max walked away from them and into an empty room. She felt a chilling wind go through her making her slump to the ground. She saw Elizabeth appear in front of her floating and laughing hysterically.

"W-what the… what the…?"

"I am not...sorry...Holy shit that was awesome." Elizabeth said in broken laughter.

Max turned white and stared at her.

"You...possessed me?"

"Damn that was so weird! Everything looked so tall. God damn Max I didn't think you were that short!"

Max could only scream at her in embarrassment and anger.

~LiS~

Groaning heavily, she laid down on the soft mattress with the owner laughing at her. Max sat up glaring at the laughing ghost with rage and threw a pillow at her which just flew through her. The action made the other girl laugh harder.

"I can't believe you! You just don't go in someone's body without their permission! As a matter of fact, don't even go in someone's body in the first place!"

"Oh come one Maxine, you were taking too long to pick a room so I just made things easier for you."

"Well because of you, I'm sleeping in dead girls room! And it's Max, never maxine." She grumbled.

The blue haired ghost stuck her tongue at her and disappeared down the floor. Max let out a noise of frustration as she slumped back onto the bed, Elizabeth's bed. She curled up against the pillow and noticed that it had a nice smell of mint with a mix of nature to it. It was something she cannot describe but it was pleasant. The scent almost made her forget the raging fire inside her from Elizabeth's action of possessing her in front of her parents.

She still couldn't believe what just happened. She didn't even feel anything go in her to feel that a ghost is possessing her until too late. Looking around the room she did notice that it was cleaner than before. Her head pounded in agony trying to think about ghosts and their powers. All she knows is that this one can definitely go through walls, possess people, becoming solid and touch things including people, and surprisingly clean up things. It wasn't as dusty like it was before earlier in the morning. Most of the clothes and other objects were moved to the side and were hidden in boxes or on top of the dresser. The bed too felt like it was recently washed.

 _Ghosts have weird powers or something..._

Max laid on her back. The light of a small lamp illuminated the room with including the light of the moon going through the only huge window in the attic.

Biting her lip, she tried not to think too much about the whole thing. She didn't even believe in ghosts before until she actually met one. Mas has a lot of questions going through her mind.

"By the way…" Said a voice across the room. Max sat up and saw Elizabeth scratching the back of her neck nervously.

"I'm really sorry for what I did. Just… understand that I haven't talked to anyone in a very long time so I was really excited to have you guys here. When I saw your vehicle stop at the front, I thought of scaring you guys away until I recognized your parents. I was curious on what they were doing here until you got out of the car. I heard your conversation about moving her and I guess I don't really mind at all." She smiled a bit while looking at the floor. It also seemed like she wanted to say something else until she sighed and looked up grinning.

"It was a good thing I was curious about you or else I wouldn't have caught you staring at my photo for five minutes."

Max turned red.

"F-five minutes? You're lying!"

"Oh, you're right. It was ten minutes."

She continued to flush red and the blue haired ghost decided to continue.

"So yeah. Hope you can forgive what I did cause I was just too damn excited."

They stared at each other. One was nervous and the other overwhelmed.

"...I'll think about it. It's been a very crazy day and I think that my brain will work better tomorrow."

"Right right. The princess needs her beauty sleep."

"Shut up…"

Elizabeth just grinned and headed up to the roof. Max watched her float up but reached out towards her.

"Hey wait."

Elizabeth stopped halfway through the ceiling and came back down.

"Yeah?"

"Is your name actually Elizabeth?"

She floated towards Max a bit and tilted her head to the side and pretended to think hard.

"Hmm… Is it?"

Fatigue was starting to drag Max into deep sleep but her stubbornness tried to fight it.

"I have a feeling it isn't."

"You know what they say, always trust yer guts."

She rose an eyebrow at the floating girl. Another pang of pain rang through her head.

 _I don't like being teased… Maybe I should just accept the deal and help her? My parents knew her so she's probably not mean. I mean, she haven't really done anything to hurt me right?_

Max tried to talk again but the other girl brought her finger to her own lips gesturing Max to stay quiet.

"Max, you've had a long crazy day and I truly am sorry for that so rest up okay?"

All she could do was nod slowly and watch the ghost girl smile then disappear. No longer feeling her presence in the room, Max felt lonely. In just a day, she already got used to her being around and now she felt alone. Even somewhat scared. She turned the lamp off and settled in the bed, under the blankets. Elizabeth's scent covered her entire body and soul that sleep overcame her quickly, releasing her from the chains of all of her worries.

Hours later Max slightly woke up as she felt Elizabeth's presence in the room. With half open eyelids, she saw her leaning against the window while looking out of it. The moon was shining through her but it left a inhumane glow in her transparent body. Some of the light from the moon bounced off her creating a glimmering light sparkling around her. Her blue hair seems to flow unnaturally around her neck. Max noticed that the black leather jacket she was wearing earlier is now gone. She was wearing a white loose tank top with an image of a skull in front. Glancing lower, she noticed her right arm was filled with a tattoo of something green and red. Max couldn't make out what it looks like from afar and sleepy eyes. Nonetheless, Max couldn't even think of what she is seeing and just captured the image of the gorgeous ghost girl in her mind. It was truly captivating.

Max was once again brought back to sleep missing the sad look on Elizabeth's face.

Sensing that the other girl had once again fallen asleep, she floated towards her in silence. Watching Max sleep sent a unknown feeling deep in her chest. She didn't understand. She was no longer alive yet she feels like she is whenever she's around Max. Especially when she touches her. She leaned in towards her ear moving a lock of her soft brown hair away, careful not to touch her and whispered softly.

"You were half right."

She brought something out from her pocket and laid the bracelet that she told Max to find earlier beside her pillow.

"My name is Chloe Elizabeth Price."


	3. Chapter 3

**Afterlife**

 **Chapter 3**

" **Agreement"**

Max scanned the area feeling a bit uneasy. She was having a staring contest with a huge sign.

' **Blackwell High'**

Max gripped the strap of her bag and walked up the stairs into the entrance. The sound of students surrounded her, be it the chatter of gossips or the everyday life of random people. Every time she took a step forward, a different conversation would echo into her ears.

"No way! Are you serious?"

"Yeah and then-"

"Are you going to the party tonight?"

"-stay away from him you slut!"

Max grimaced and sighed heavily. Her face scrunched up in annoyance and shuffled her hand into her bag trying to grab her schedule out. The sight of her first class at least made her smile a bit and forget about the drama going around her.

"Photography class."

~LiS~

She took a deep breath.

"I'm uh…I'm Max caulfield. Moved from seattle...but I was originally born here."

Everyone was looking at her. Some were clearly uninterested and some were staring daggers into her soul. The attention was suffocating her greatly. Eyes were on her as if trying to lock her up in a room full of surveillance camera making her more uncomfortable than she did when she was asked to introduce herself in front of the whole class. There was another reason why she liked photography. She didn't need to face the lens.

"Welcome to Blackwell High Max. Take a seat over there at the back please."

Her teacher called himself Mr. Jefferson. Mark Jefferson. Max didn't know why but she felt uneasy when she first saw him. However she shrugged it off thinking it may be just the nerves. He was a tall man with short dark brown hair and had a bearded face. He was also wearing glasses.

As she walked towards the empty desk, she felt someone watching her intently. When she turned to see who it was, she was met with a glare from a blonde girl. She had her right arm resting on the back of her chair while facing Max a bit with her left leg on top of the other. Max looked away and tried not to think about the hidden meaning of the glare itself.

While settling down on her desk, she almost missed the sudden blur of a paper ball being thrown across the room towards another girl. It came from the girl who was sitting beside the blonde haired one. Max looked at the victim and she realized that the girl had tired eyes as if she wasn't getting enough sleep lately. Her dirty blonde hair was in a bun that seemed like she did it in a rush.

Max frowned. The girl looked so insecure and gripped onto herself and the slight shaking of her body didn't go unnoticed by Max. She didn't like the situation one bit and looked at Mr. Jefferson hoping to discipline the girls but he didn't seem to notice what happened since he was busy answering another student's question.

The bunned girl reminded her of a bunny and felt bad for seeing her like that. Irritation swarmed Max and glared at the two girls who were chuckling but thankfully did not see her.

' _I wonder why they would bully such a sweet girl. And what the heck? Are they in elementary or something? That's so low.''_

The bell rang telling the students that class was over. Max hurried to pack her things up and catch of to the harassed girl.

"Uh hey."

The girl looked up, startled from Max's sudden appearance and a small smile came upon her face.

"Oh, hello…Max right?"

"Yeah. Well my full name is Maxine but I prefer Max…"

She didn't know why she said that but she felt like she would be great friends with this girl.

"I like your full name, it sounds pretty and unique."

Max could only smile at her from the compliment. She realized that almost everyone has gone to their next class and that there was now an awkward silence between the two girls.

"Um...could you tell me where the science wing is?"

The girl packed her things up and nodded.

"Yes, sure. I have a class there next but which room are you heading to?"

Max grabbed her schedule again and read what it says.

"Uh the one with Mrs. Grant?"

The girl's face seemed to lighten up and smiled happily.

"I have the same class as you!"

She realized that she was loud and turned red feeling embarrassed. Max noticed and laughed quietly.

"Well lead the way, uhm…?"

"Oh sorry, my name is Kate. Kate Marsh."

Max felt like she accomplished something by knowing her name, as if she did something that would have consequences but she didn't know what.

"Your name suits you."

Kate smiled shyly at Max and lead the way to their science class.

She suddenly heard a familiar voice close to her ear.

"Damn. I haven't been to this school in years."

Max jumped and yelled gibberish words out of her mouth as she noticed the floating girl blue haired girl was right beside her.

"WHA-wh-what the-"

"Max? What's wrong?"

She forgot about Kate and she saw the girl looking at her with a frightened face.

"You suddenly screamed, are you alright? Should I take you to the nurse's office?"

Max laughed nervously with her heart hammering hard from her chest. Her head moved back and forth from Kate to the ghost girl and back to Kate at least three times. She had popped out of nowhere but it seemed like Kate didn't notice the transparent girl right beside Max.

' _S-so she can't see her...thank god…'_

"S-sorry it's nothing. I thought I saw something…" She tried to reassure Kate and gave her a collected smile. However deep inside, she was suddenly filled with annoyance. They started walking again to class with a laughing ghost girl in tow behind Max.

Growling quietly so Kate cannot hear, she harshly whispered to the girl behind her.

"Chloe! What the heck are you doing here?! You scared the living crap out of me!"

Chloe was laughing so loudly that Max would forget that people cannot see nor hear her at all.

"Holy shit Max! Your face, oh my fucking god that was priceless!"

Max gripped onto the strap of her bag trying to calm the rapid beating of her heart and took a deep breath.

"Well It would be _priceless_ if you weren't here." Max grumbled.

That shut Chloe up immediately. She stopped behind Max and gaped at her then pouted as she caught up to Max again.

"Oh come on...don't be mean to me. You promised you'd help me and now you wanna get rid of me?"

Max bit her lip and glanced at the crestfallen face of Chloe. A small part of her was unsure of the deal before but that changed after what happened a few days ago. Max _really_ want to help Chloe. However a huge question was growing in her brain. She glanced at Kate who was a bit far ahead and used the chance to ask.

"...Chloe, how did you leave the house?"

The girl pointed at the black bracelet that is around Max's wrist.

"I'm connected to the bracelet. I can only be around it but with a good distance away. I think a kilometer away is my maximum distance. That's the reason why I couldn't leave the house before."

"Wait what? Why was I not told about this?"

"You didn't ask, you just wore it remember?"

Max looked at the bracelet remembering what happened a few days ago.

~LiS~

Chloe scratched the back of her neck while looking at the side. Max, who woke up a few minutes ago, was still in bed. She had called out for her saying that she wanted to talk. However Chloe didn't think that this type of conversation was going to happen.

"You were just dreaming. Probably."

"Right. Even if you thought I was asleep, I heard you loud and clear."

"Nah, probably just something that your brain made up."

"Chloe Elizabeth Price."

There was a pause.

"Nope. Not my name."

Max looked at her with a neutral face.

"Your real name is Chloe. Elizabeth is your middle name."

Chloe crossed her arms starting to get defensive.

"Not!"

"For a ghost, you suck at lying."

"Shut up!"

"Not until you admit that your name is Chloe."

They both glared at it each other. Max noticed that she was looking insecure which was immediately covered by confidence.

"Like I said, even if that was my name, you'll have to agree on the deal once you know."

Max blinked. She had totally forgotten about that. Max was already positive that Chloe was her real name however she did not think about the deal.

"Say that I did agree on it… what am I supposed to do to help you?" Max said as she crossed her arms together looking at the other girl skeptically.

' _Sure she's gorgeous and has a cute face but I won't let that faze me considering she is a ghost afterall.'_

The other girl was silent, frustration was visible to her face then she sighed heavily in defeat.

"I need your help."

"What kind of help?"

"I...It's something that I can't do alone okay?"

Max frowned.

"Well I need to know first before agreeing something with a ghost."

Chloe flinched at the last part and then had a pained look in her eyes. Before Max could react, the air around her suddenly became cold to the point where she could see her own breath. Chloe tilted her head down, facing the ground, her short hair hiding her eyes.

Her voice was cold. It pierced through the silence with anger which Max could feel around her.

"...To find the person who killed me."

It was like a lake that suddenly died with no living things lingering in it making it a still, silent lake. Her mouth opened up then closed. She didn't realize before until the image was clear to her with the sacrifice of a painful memory from Chloe. She realized that if she would've just agreed on helping the ghost girl before, she didn't have to reveal the truth forcefully to Max. She felt horrible. All this time, she was worried about Chloe hurting her family and not about Chloe's situation even after she learned the truth about what happened to her. She quickly assumed that Chloe was going to hurt her. She shouldn't have judged with a biased opinion. Chloe _was_ a living person before too.

"Eli…" Max bit her lower lip, she didn't know what to call her,"I'm sorry. I-I didn't-"

"I've never even thought of hurting anyone of you." she said coldly, cutting Max off.

"I didn't think about it-"

The temperature seemed to drop more making Max shiver uncontrollably. The air around Chloe started to move around her, making Chloe's blue hair fly around her face.

"I've been here for years Max! I was all alone this whole time! My dad passed on and I never got to see him in the afterlife because I'm _stuck_ here then my mom just gives up on my case and leave everything behind!"

She started walking towards Max, anger in her eyes but also loneliness and pain. Max backed up on instinct towards the headboard of the bed and realized that she was trapped between the wall and a ghost who seemed to be dangerous at the moment. However, she didn't feel scared. She felt horrible. The ache in her chest was painful to bare for her and seeing Chloe in such state was making it worse.

"C-chloe…"

"Just stop it! I shouldn't have asked for your help. No one helped me then...so no one will help me now!"

"Chloe-"

"You're just full of bullshit Max. At first I thought you were a nice girl but deep inside, you don't really care for anyone but yourself!"

Max was getting tired of this. She agrees that what Chloe is saying was true but the situation seemed fixable yet Chloe is making it worse. She already wants to apologize and re think the whole situation, wanting to give this another chance but the other girl was just getting swarmed by negative emotions.

"Chloe for the love of god-"

"All I wanted was for you to help me! Is that so fucking hard to do?!"

Max's eyes twitched then she lunged at Chloe and raised her hand, smacking her right across the face.

"Now who is being selfish here?!"

The shock of the physical contact stopped whatever ghost powers Chloe was emitting earlier making the room warmer. Fortunately, the shock made her stop talking with a dumbstruck face.

"Okay I admit I was just thinking of myself during the whole time but what the fuck! You don't just meet a ghost out of nowhere Chloe!"

Max could no longer control herself and started waving her arms around in frustration.

"Your request is also a bit unfair isn't it? Yes my parents know you but I don't okay? This...This deal that you speak of is just...UGH."

Chloe was staring at Max the whole time still not knowing how to act. All she could see in front of her was a flustered angry Caulfield, brown hair pointing in all directions, and a trail of her dried drool at the side of her mouth.

"I would never agree on a deal that I don't even know about okay?! Even if you weren't a ghost, I would like to know what I'm getting into before agreeing on it!"

Max was getting light headed ever since she started her rambling. She had to stop and take a deep breath to calm herself a little. The room was oddly silent and she felt a stinging sensation on the palm of her hand.

' _Why is it…'_

Her eyes grew big. She just slapped a ghost. A ghost who was pissed at her. She slapped a ghost who was dangerous at the time being because of her.

' _Wait how did I even manage to do that?'_

"...Fine."

Max expecting to see an angry ghost girl however she was wrong.

"What?"

She didn't even notice that Chloe calmed down for a while now. She had her back facing Max and is sitting on the foot of the bed, with her legs crossed and a hunched back. It also seemed like she was playing with her hair.

"We...both had our faults…I guess I'm sorry for not being forward..."

Max looked down at her hands and fiddled with her fingers feeling regretful for what she did.

"Chloe I'm really sorry for what I did too…"

No answer.

Max bit her lip and mumbled quietly," I… I want to know more about you…"

She realized what she said and blushed red waving her hand in front of her face when she saw Chloe look back at her with a questioning look.

"I-I mean so that something like this won't happen again…you know?"

Chloe was still quiet which worried Max. With the silence, it got her to think clearly for a bit.

' _She said earlier that she needs my help to…...f-find her killer.'_

Max felt her stomach turn into a knot.

' _Chloe was…'_

She was uncomfortable. She felt so stupid. Chloe was someone who was connected to her family and that she means no harm at all. She was happy to finally have contact with people, especially those that she used to know.

 _What the hell Max… she's been here for a decade and she asked you for help. But noooo, you thought she was gonna hurt you or something! God I'm such an idiot._

Max looked back to Chloe who was still facing the other way.

' _She must have been so lonely…'_

She sighed heavily.

"...I'll help you. I want to help you..."

Chloe still didn't move.

Max sighed again and crawled up to Chloe, poking her.

"I said I'll help you okay?" She said softly.

"...acelet…"

"What?"

Chloe cleared her throat.

"I'll...forgive you if you wear the bracelet…"

Max rose looked at her dumbly, frustration starting to build up in her system again.

"Chloe I don't even know where to start looking."

"You already found it."

She was confused. She back away from Chloe and brought her arm behind her to hold herself up but she felt something cold brush against her fingers. She looked down to see the bracelet Chloe was talking about half of it hiding underneath the pillow.

"Wha? This wasn't here before…"

"Wear it and I'll forgive you."

Max brought the bracelet up to her face and examined its features. The silver spikes around it was glimmering from the light and its texture was smooth to her fingers. She was about to wear it until she remembered something.

"Hold on. I wasn't the only one at fault here…"

She held bracelet in front of her face.

"I will forgive you if you admit that Chloe is your real name."

Max however just realized she had been calling her Chloe this whole time but it was so natural saying her name. It felt like she had been saying her name for years.

Chloe groaned and spun around, showing Max something she didn't think was possible for a ghost.

"Okay okay! I admit it alright? My name is Chloe. Chloe Price!"

' _W-wha...'_

Max gaped at Chloe. A blushing Chloe. Max didn't seem to register why she was blushing in the first place or how she's even able to blush but Max suddenly blushed too. She didn't know why but she was happy that Chloe finally admitted it. However, mixed in those happy feeling, there lingers an emotion that's unknown to her and it was making her hotter.

' _What the hell is going on?'_

The two avoided eye contact from each other, both flustered.

 _Click_

Chloe looked up to see her bracelet perfectly around Max's wrist, who was trying to hide her red face.

"Okay I wore it."

"..."

That's the evidence of our...uhm…" ' _Deal? No...no that doesn't sound right.'_

"..."

"Uhm…"

"Friendship?"

Max looked at the bracelet on her wrist then at Chloe. She had a faint blush on her cheeks and her blue eyes was focused on the bracelet that Max is wearing. She was looking at it so intensely making Max feel more embarrassed. However she couldn't help herself and smiled playfully.

"Seems like you're thinking something dirty."

The reaction she got from Chloe was amusing. She suddenly backed away from Max all the way across the room, against the wall.

"No I was not! Anyways," Chloe played with her black beanie,"I'll help you out on cleaning today so… go downstairs. Your mom is making breakfast." She mumbled quietly.

She disappeared into the wall leaving Max alone to her thoughts.

~LiS~

"Max? Max we're here."

Max snapped out from her daydream and saw Kate looking at her expectantly.

"Oh! Oh right right, coming."

She entered the science room which was already filled with students, some she had seen in the hall.

"I like science." Chloe said out of the blue as she followed her and Kate to their seats.

Max smiled and took a seat beside Kate after asking if it was alright to sit with her which Kate gladly said yes.

"Same here." she whispered quietly.

Max felt giddy. She kept glancing at Chloe but had to stop herself from doing that considering people might notice her smiling at nothing which she did not want to happen. That aside, she didn't know why but she was actually happy that Chloe can be with her. She started smiling to herself but that happiness was short lived when Chloe started making faces and moving objects behind the science teacher making the whole class freak out.

"Oh for the love of god…"

 **AUTHORS NOTES**

I totally did not just write this in one go. I actually plan on updating every two weeks on Sundays (Trust me, if I tried doing it every one week, I probably won't update until a year later...er I hope I did not just jynx myself...) but considering I couldn't do any writing this weekend due to studying and worrying about exams, I missed it. Hopefully I can keep the updates up and going! Anyway, thanks for reading guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter.


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